The House of Representatives on Wednesday began its second straight day without a president or sworn members after the Republican majority failed to muster all 218 votes to nominate House party leader Kevin McCarthy.
McCarthy was unable to secure a majority of the votes in new elections. Once again, the party’s more conservative members withdrew their support and voted for other lawmakers. Conservative Texas lawmaker Chip Roy said on the floor on Wednesday, “Do you think the American people want us to continue on the path that we’ve been doing? Do they want us to keep doing things as the current leadership is in place? Do you think they want us to continue down this path? And I would argue that they want a new face, a new vision, a new leadership.”
Already on Tuesday, McCarthy lost three straight votes amid a rebellion by his party’s most conservative members: something not seen in Congress since 1923.
McCarthy and his allies worked all night to convince the defectors. They also called former President Donald Trump, who supported him but remained silent on Tuesday. As he said on the social network Truth: “Republicans, do not turn a great victory into a gigantic and embarrassing defeat. It’s time to celebrate, you deserve it. Kevin McCarthy will do a good job, maybe even a great job.”
Meanwhile, Democrats continue to view the crisis among House Republicans with no intention of supporting them
McCarthy. President Biden said things are not looking good for the nation, while former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told the Voice of America, “I think that hopefully there will be respect for the institution from what’s happening because at this point this is not a good picture of how to resolve differences.”
Without a President, the House of Representatives cannot begin its legislative work, new lawmakers cannot be sworn in, the rules of Congress cannot be set, and two days later there is still no sign of a solution. McCarthy is absolutely not about to back down, and neither are the Tories. More voting was seen as Republicans continue to negotiate between the parties to break this impasse.